Page 104 of Play Dirty

I cut in before Sebastian could answer.

“Something changed,” I said flatly.

Silence. Then—

“Yeah,” Sutherland said. “It did.”

“Yeah?” I asked.

“Yeah.”

Another pause. Then—

“I got out.”

Click.

The line went dead again. Neither of us spoke for a second.

“What the hell does that mean?” Sebastian asked.

I pocketed the phone.

“Means he’s a dick.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“I know.”

He scratched at the back his neck, clearly frustrated.

“He didn’t remember me,” he said. “We practiced together every day.”

“Didn’t want to,” I said.

Sebastian looked up at me.

“You think so?”

“Yeah.”

I turned the thought over a few times.

“He knew exactly who you were.”

That sat with him. I could see it working through his head.

“All of this…” he muttered. “The numbers. The games. The way he’s acting—”

“Something’s off,” I finished for him.

He nodded.

“Yeah.”

Silence again. A longer stretch.

“We should bring it to Mercer,” Sebastian said.